The present invention relates to a lifting and walking aid, i.e. device for permitting a patient to raise him/herself (e.g. from a bed) and walk about.
Such a device is advantageous for lifting sick or invalid people from a supine position in a bed, as well as for holding up a weakened person when walking or a person undertaking a rehabilitation process.
As well known, sick people in the above mentioned conditions need the help of one or more assistants to be able to get on one""s feet and walk about.
Such lifting and walking operations are often accomplished under conditions of precarious balance with the risk of a fall or an overstrain potentially harmful both for the sick person and for the person assisting him.
There are known walking aids for sick people and the like as well as devices adapted to lift a sick person from a bed and put him/her into an erect or sitting position.
With reference to the devices of the first type, also known as walkers, such conventional devices do not solve the problem of lifting the sick person and holding the same during the walking and therefore such known devices require the continuous presence of at least one assistant.
On the other hand, the lifting devices are generally bulky and heavy and do not solve the problem of helping the sick person to walk after he/she has been lifted from the bed.
In the past, there have been proposed devices essentially constituted by a walker provided with a harness and lifting means adapted to maintain the walking user in an erect position. One of such devices is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,677.
The device disclosed in the above mentioned US patent comprises a base member supported on small wheels, to which a vertical frame is fixed, the frame being provided with harness means for sustaining the user and with side bars on which the user rests his/her hands when walking.
Such a device is nevertheless bulky and as a further drawback does not allow a person to be directly lifted from the bed.
A first object of the present invention is therefore to provide a device adapted for assisting a sick person in walking and further adapted to directly raise a sick person from a bed, even from a supine position.
A second object of the present invention is to provide a lifting and walking aid for sick people that is compact and that can be easily disassembled and transported.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a lifting and walking aid for sick people that can be used on uneven ground without prejudice of its compactness and its disassembling and transport capabilities.
The above and other objects of the present invention are accomplished through a lifting and walking aid for sick people, the aid having a framework comprising a lower horizontal frame (2a-2c) provided with casters, an upper horizontal frame (2d-2f) provided with lifting means, and a vertical frame (2g-2n) secured to both horizontal frames. The framework is constructed with a plurality of substantially rectilinear tubular members (2a-2y) and the tubular members are connacted to each other so as to allow for quick disassembling without the need of any additional tool.